Julie Cooks: Microwaved Chocolate Chip Cookies (M&M’s and Cadbury Cookies)

Marriage is making me fat. I mean really, how can you not? When you could experiment in the kitchen with all your heart and nothing, and I mean nothing, not even your husband could ever stop you? Okay, I’m making excuses. But really, ever since I got married and started to actually cook real food for the husband and I, I have become a kitchen wanderer. I always find myself itching to learn something new in the kitchen. The only problem is, I am obliged to eat the end product of my experiment…all by myself.

Case in Point

Yesterday, I was itching to bake some cookies. Thanks to all these wonderful dessert channels on YouTube, my hidden passion for baking sparked like nobody’s business. I couldn’t stop thinking about getting into the kitchen and bake some mean chocolate chip cookies. But you know what’s frustrating? It’s the fact that I don’t have an oven (yet). I thought of just buying a pack of my favorite chocolate chip cookies, but I figured, the fulfillment of eating them will never be the same as when I actually shed blood and sweat in making them. And so a wicked plan popped into my head.

Microwave them Cookies!

Why not, right? So I scavenged my pantry to look for ingredients. Thankfully, I have everything except the chocolate chips. But then, why worry when I actually have M&M’s and Cadbury in the fridge? It sounded like a plan. I rolled out my sleeves and got to work.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Table Salt
1/2 cup or 1 stick Softened Butter
1/3 cup white Sugar
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup chocolate chips (in my case, 2 packs of plain M&M’s and Chopped Cadbury Milk Chocolate)

microwaved m&m chocolate cookies — how can you not love M&M’s?

Procedure:

Mix all wet ingredients and sugars in a bowl using a whisk (softened butter, egg, vanilla, white and brown sugar).
In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt).
Fold in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until you achieve a dough-like consistency. Do not over mix!
Pour in the chocolate chips and mix until it’s just incorporated.
Wrap the dough with a cling wrap and pop it in the fridge for about 2 hours. This will help firm up the dough and make it easier to form later.
Because we’re baking in the microwave, we cannot use regular tin cookie pan. Instead, use a glass or plastic tray that’s microwave safe. Line the tray with parchment paper or baking sheet.
When the 2 hours is up, take the dough out of the fridge and begin scooping out cookie balls.
Bake the cookie balls in the microwave on high power for about 4 mins. Remember that not all microwaves are the same, so you just have to keep an eye on your cookies. If you’re not sure, start at 2 minutes intervals until your cookies are done. (You’ll know they’re done when you poke the cookies with a toothpick and it comes out clean).

Some things to Remember:

I find that microwaved cookies won’t brown much, but it’s okay. That doesn’t mean they’re undercooked. In fact, I was surprised that they came out soft after leaving them to cool overnight. When I took them out of the microwave, they were very soft and wiggly, and then they hardened after a few minutes, and then softened again. I cooked them late at night already (talk about impulse, huh?) so I wasn’t in the mood to indulge right in. The next morning, I was left with soft, chewy cookies that smelled so good they could be angels in heaven!

P.S. The husband is not a fan of sweets. I know right? So, yeah, all these will have to go down my belly. See what I mean about getting fat? (excuses..excuses..excuses!)